Dr. Hirofumi Tanaka

University Of Texas at Austin

Masters Athletes: Super Humans With Grey Hair, Wrinkles, And Much More

Dr. Tanaka is a Professor and the Director of the Cardiovascular Aging Research Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin. He received a B.A. in physical education/martial arts at the International Budo (Martial Arts) University in Japan, a M.S. in human bioenergetics from Ball State University, and a Ph.D. in applied physiology from the University of Tennessee.

He completed his postdoctoral fellowship in cardiovascular physiology at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Dr. Tanaka's research interests revolve around vascular aging that manifests as the stiffening (hardening) of large elastic artery and vascular endothelial dysfunction.

A variety of topics that encompass the physiological mechanism that mediate vascular aging, sequel or consequences of aging-related vascular dysfunction such as cognitive dysfunction, and lifestyle modifications that prevent and reverse vascular dysfunction with aging are being investigated in his research laboratory.

Masters athletes or aging competitive athletes are often studied as the model of successful aging. He has published over 250 research articles in this area.